The Mind Of A Killer
by Hannah554
Summary: AU. New York is plagued by a serial killer, police have no suspects and no leads. When FBI profilers are called in the case takes some unexpected turns and the price of catching the killer might be higher than anyone realises. Written for aubigbang, FA DL
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: This was written for aubigbang over on LiveJournal. I'm actually pretty proud of it and I hope you all enjoy it, let me know what you think! There's fanart for the fic on LJ if anyone is interested, it was made by Brinchen86 and it's awesome. **

* * *

**The Mind of a Killer  
**_**By Hannah554  
**_

_Nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing is more difficult than to understand him._  
_Fyodor Dostoevsky  
_

**Chapter 1**

It had taken longer than she would have liked but the assignment was done, she could hand it into her professor tomorrow and be done with it. The thing had been plaguing her for weeks now and it felt good to have it done, to not have to worry about it anymore, one more thing to check of her 'to do' list. It was dark as she left the library and she walked quickly, her dorm was only five minutes away and it wasn't that late yet, there was no need to call for an escort. The university had started providing them last year for girls walking home late at night, particularly from the library but being so close to her dorm she didn't think it was necessary. She crossed the street quickly, glancing both ways to make sure no cars were heading her way. Her heals clicked against the pavement, the only sound on the quiet street. She was surprised there weren't more people around, there were still a few in the library but the street was empty.

There was a noise behind her and she spun around, seeing the street still empty and quiet. She shook her head at herself, getting paranoid was the last thing she needed, she didn't think this was going to be the last late night walk home from the library. She continued walking, making it around the corner and onto another quiet street. The dorms were up ahead, she could see most of the light's still on and she didn't doubt that she'd be able to hear a lot of the students inside once she got a little closer.

Another noise behind her caught her attention and she turned around. There was a man walking up the street behind her, a backpack over his shoulder, probably another student. She picked up her pace anyway, walking quickly, wanting to get to the safety of the dorms. She heard the footsteps behind her speed up too and she knew she was in trouble. She didn't even look back, just started running, the strap of her bag gripped tightly in one of her hands to keep it from swinging around and slowing her down.

She could hear the man behind her running too, he was getting closer. The next thing she knew she was hit by a massive weight behind her, knocking her forward and she fell to the ground, her hands coming out and hitting the pavement first in an effort to protect her head. The man had fallen with her but he recovered too fast, straddling her back and holding her still, stopping her from getting up.

She called for help, screamed as loud as she could and struggled to get free but she wasn't strong enough. He put a cloth over her mouth before she could scream for more than a few seconds; she could smell something as he pressed it hard against her face. Everything went blurry, out of focus, suddenly it was hard to struggle, hard to concentrate, her body wanted to go to sleep and with a silent protest from her it did exactly that. She wondered if the pavement was going to be the last thing she ever saw.

* * *

Buzzing...

It was a cell phone buzzing and he opened his eyes, looking over to the bedside table to see it was his phone that was demanding attention. He disentangled himself from the woman asleep next to him, between his movement and the phone he could see her waking up, she was probably going to need to get up anyway. He reached over her for the phone, sitting up as he answered it.

"Flack," he muttered into it needing a few more seconds to wake up completely. There was more buzzing, the phone that had been sat on the bedside table beside his was now demanding attention too and a hand reached out to grab it, a half muffled voice coming from behind him. "I'm on my way," he said in answer to the voice on the other end of the line, flipping his phone closed and turning to the woman still laid on the bed.

She hung up as well and turned onto her back, looking at him with tired eyes. "Guess I'd better get up then."

"Yeah, you wanna shower first?" he questioned and she nodded, getting out of bed and dragging the sheet up with her, wrapping it around herself as she headed for the bathroom. He ran a hand through his hair, pulling on a pair of sweat pants that were lying on the floor next to the bed and heading through to the kitchen for coffee. He returned to the bedroom with two cups, one that he left on top of the drawers and the other one he carried with him as he walked into the bathroom.

"Coffee's on the drawers Jess," he told her as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself, her hair tied up and somehow still completely dry.

"Thanks," she replied as she disappeared into the bedroom and he took another drink of his coffee, leaving it on the bathroom counter as he showered. It didn't take him long and when he got back to the bedroom, Jess was just pulling on her suit jacket, coffee cup half empty. He got dressed; ignoring the look Jess gave his tie as they left the apartment. They drove to work in their separate cars, Don arriving a few minutes ahead of Jess.

He waited for her at his desk, watching as she walked in a few minutes later with a paper bag in her hand. She stopped to talk to someone briefly as she stepped out of the elevator, smiling and nodding before continuing toward him, putting the paper bag down in front of him.

"I figured you probably didn't have time for breakfast yet, ate mine on the way here," she said and he thanked her. He didn't get time to eat or even see what was in the bag before he spotted Grayson heading their way.

"Agent Flack, Agent Angell, conference room now," he ordered them and both nodded their heads following him up the stairs and into the conference room. They took their seats at the long oval table along with their boss. Macey, one of their liaisons, was waiting for them with the details of whatever case they were undoubtedly being sent on and with a nod from Grayson, she started the briefing.

She clicked a button on the remote in her hand, the large screen behind her changing from the FBI symbol to a picture of a young girl. She was white, long brown hair, green eyes, slim; Don's mind was already working through the possibilities. "This is Diane Swanson, a 19 year old student at NYU. She went missing four days ago, her body was found in a dumpster two days later."

Macey clicked a button again, the picture of Diane Swanson shrinking back and joining several other pictures. All young women, all similar in appearance, all of them had brown hair, the same build, all looked to be between the ages of 18 and 25.

"Five other women have been kidnapped and found dead over the last seven weeks, all of them in Manhattan, all of them with the same mark cut into the back of their right shoulder," Macey informed them. The screen changed again, crime scene photos appearing one after another. "They were all sexually assaulted and tortured; there were bruises, cuts and burns all over the bodies. Evidence from the scenes is pretty scarce, NYPD currently has no suspects and they're asking for our help."

"I've already looked through some of the information we've been sent on the case," Grayson said turning to look at Don and Jess. "This guy is brutal and he's going to keep killing until someone stops him. You two are the best profilers I've got, so go stop him."

"Yes sir," Jess said as Grayson stood up and left. Macey offered them a smile before she left too and Jess turned to Don. "I guess I'll go call the airline."

* * *

After a delayed flight, a mix up with their tickets and a flight that seemed longer than it actually was Don and Jess arrived in New York. They were greeted by a uniform who had handed over the keys to the standard black SUV they'd been given for their time here. Don drove to the precinct while Jess continued to go through the files, thinking out loud as they bounced theories off each other. The faster they came up with a profile, the faster they could catch this guy.

"They're tortured pretty brutally, burns, cuts from some kind of blade, bruising. They're sexually assaulted, repeatedly from the look of things," Jess said as she went through the file on the last victim. "All points to a sexual sadist."

"There's less time between the last two victims than all the others," Don added. "His cooling off period is getting shorter; he'll probably want another girl within the next couple of days."

They arrived at the precinct and were met with the usual staring from the locals as they located the captain's office. Captain Taylor spotted them coming and came out to greet them, shaking both their hands.

"Thanks for coming, this is Detective Messer, he's our lead detective on the case," Taylor introduced the man next to him who also shook both their hands but seemed less than thrilled by their presence.

"We need to see everything you've got on the case that you didn't already send us, we're also going to need to see the victim's homes and the dump sites," Don informed them, wanting to get to work on this as quickly as possible, seven victims was more than enough for any serial killer. "We'll need to speak to the victim's families."

"How will that help you?" Detective Messer questioned.

"It's what we call victimology," Jess explained, always better with the locals than he was. He'd dealt with more than his fair share of local detectives that didn't want the FBI swooping in and taking over. He'd dealt with it a lot longer than Jess had and he was perfectly capable of handling them but Jess was always more diplomatic than he was, it seemed easier to let her handle it. "It helps us to understand what kind of people he's targeting and why, it helps us to understand him."

"Whatever you need," Captain Taylor stated. "We want this guy caught before he can kill more women. Do you have any theories yet as to what we're dealing with."

"We're already putting together a profile, as soon as we have something we'll brief your people," Don told him.

An hour later Detective Messer had given them a detailed run down on everything they had on the case, a board had been set up with everything related to the case laid out for them to see, pictures of all the victims pinned up there. They were catching some attitude from Detective Messer but nothing bad, nothing that would interfere with the case, nothing they hadn't dealt with before. Don's mind took in everything, cataloguing it and filing it away for later use.

"How about I do half the families and you do the other half?" Jess suggested. "We can compare notes when we're done but seven victims is a lot and if we're right about this guy's cooling off period getting shorter then we don't have long before he kidnaps another victim."

"Sounds like a plan," Don replied, his eyes scanning over the evidence board.

"I'll grab Detective Messer and get started now, I'll call you later," Jess said as she grabbed a few of the files and left.

* * *

Melissa Davies had been the third victim; she'd been nineteen years old, a waitress at a dinner only a block from where she lived. She'd disappeared somewhere between the diner and home at the end of her shift. Her body had been found in an alleyway two days later, the same torture evident as all the other victims. It was clear her family had been torn apart by the killing, a month later they were still struggling to deal with it.

Her mother, Sandra, looked weak and thin but judging by the family photos she was usually a happy, healthy woman. Her father, Bryan was unshaven which again was in contrast with the family photos, the two people seemed unable to look at each other properly, stood separately, no contact between them. Their other daughter, Lauren, seemed to be the one coping the best; she seemed to be the one holding it all together.

"I just have a few questions about your daughter," Jess told them.

"We've already told the police everything we know, which is nothing," Bryan replied angrily.

"But what I need to know is about your daughter, what she was like," Jess stated. "Did she have a routine, would she usually be walking home alone at that time?"

"Are you saying this is our fault, I have to work, I can't be picking her up all the time," Bryan defended. He wasn't happy about them being here, from the moment he'd opened the door and seen Detective Messer he'd made that clear.

"No one is saying that Mr Davies," Messer told him. "These are just some questions."

"If Melissa had a routine then it's possible that her killer knew that, that he'd been watching her and that might help us to catch him," Jess explained. "Did she usually walk home alone at that time?"

"Her shifts were never the same," Lauren stepped forward, her arms wrapped around herself protectively. "Sometimes she'd be working the early shift and be home in the afternoon, sometimes she'd work later and be home at night, whatever she had to. She didn't always walk home alone either, she has a friend at the diner, sometimes he'd drive her home if they finished their shift at the same time."

"What was she like outside of work?" Jess asked.

"What do you mean?" Sandra questioned.

"Did she have a lot of friends, how did she interact with others, her hobbies, what kind of things was she into?" Jess elaborated, she needed to find out how this guy was picking out his victims, where he might have come across Melissa Davies.

"She was very quiet, she loved to read more than anything else, there must be fifty books in her room," Lauren told them. "She was pretty friendly though, if someone spoke to her on the street, on the subway, she wouldn't just ignore them but she wasn't stupid either, she knew not everyone is as nice as they may seem. She has a few friends, they were all really close, had dinner together all the time."

"Would you mind if I saw her room?" Jess questioned. Lauren seemed to know her sister pretty well but there was nothing more telling about a person than how they chose to decorate where they lived, what they chose to surround themselves with, or not surround themselves with as the case sometimes was. Sandra sniffled and blinked back tears gesturing for Lauren to show her to Melissa's room, the younger girl nodded her head. Lauren looked to be about fifteen years old; it was strange to see her holding the family together and not one of the parents. At the same time though she could see the effect this had all had on her, in the way she held herself, the way her eyes kept darting to the family pictures they passed.

"Melissa spent a lot of time in her room, if she wasn't at work or out with friends she was usually in there," Lauren said as they walked up the stairs and along the corridor.

"Did she get along with the family?" Jess questioned.

Lauren nodded as she opened one of the doors along the hallway and Jess followed her through it. "She did for the most part; I was pretty close to her. She argued with mom and dad sometimes, they wanted more for her than waitressing but she was happy. We all still ate dinner together at least three times a week though, dad insists on it."

"You seem to know her pretty well," Jess said as she looked over the room quickly.

"Yeah, like I said, we were pretty close," Lauren said.

"I'm very sorry for your loss," Jess replied, the well rehearsed line never seemed like enough. "Could you go and get Detective Messer for me please?"

Lauren nodded and left the room giving Jess a few moments to look through the room alone. There were a lot of pictures, only one of her with her parents, several of her with her sister and some with other people she assumed to be friends. Her book shelf was stacked to breaking point, a couple more books on her bedside table and some on her desk. There were a few posters on the walls, singers and bands that she'd seen in dozens of other rooms just like this one. There were some clothes on the floor, a magazine open on the bed and some jewellery scattered over the dresser. It was a room typical of a nineteen year old girl. She picked up a day planner that was on the dresser, flicked through to the week she disappeared, lunch with the girl's on Friday, gym on Saturday morning and the movies in the afternoon.

"Find anything useful?" Messer asked from the doorway.

"Melissa was every bit the normal nineteen year old girl. We're going to need to take the diary, if we can find some overlap with the other victims then we may be able to figure out where and how he's targeting them," Jess told him and Messer nodded as Jess continued to look through the room.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: And chapter 2 is here! I hadn't intended to take so long to update and I promise the next chapter will be up before the weekend. Thanks and hugs to dannymesserforever11, jessicaflack, terriberri23, CSI4lyfNCIS13, DreamerChild88, afrozenheart412 and Runner043 for the reviews, I love you guys. **

Chapter 2

"You're sure it was the same guy?" Jess questioned as they walked into the hospital. Detective Messer had informed them only that morning that they had a living victim, the only woman to have escaped from this killer. Don had made a point of letting both the detective and his captain know that he was not happy with information so vital to the case being withheld. Jess had held her tongue, she wasn't happy about it either but Don had made sure they knew they were in the wrong, or at least that Messer knew he was wrong, the captain hadn't known the file wasn't sent along with all the others.

"She has the same mark on the back of her shoulder that all the other victims have, we're guessing since he never got her to where he took the other women that he brands them as soon as he knocks them out," Messer explained and Jess once again watched Don's fists tighten at his side. They'd lost valuable time by not being told this sooner and she couldn't understand why the detective had kept it from them. There was a lot they could learn from this woman, things they could have learned 24 hours ago when they'd arrived if they'd been told.

"We should have been informed about this immediately detective. We can't help you if you withhold information like this from us," Jess said. She knew Don was in no mood for being nice, she'd gotten to their hotel to check in late last night and gotten a few hours of sleep before she'd been back at the precinct that morning. Don had been there, working through the case files and additional information they'd gathered. He was wearing a different suit so she knew he'd at least been back to the hotel to change. She wasn't entirely sure if he'd slept or not and she hadn't pressed him for answers when he shrugged off her question.

They stopped at the reception desk while Messer had the nurse who had survived their UNSUB's kidnapping paged. He turned back to them, his face clearly showing that he understood his screw up, Jess wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't do the same thing again if he could do it over. They were silent for a few minutes, waiting for the woman.

"Danny," a young woman greeted as she rounded the corner. She fit the UNSUBs type perfectly, young, pretty, brunette.

"Lindsay," Danny greeted. First name basis Jess noted, even in front of two FBI agents. "These are Agents Flack and Angell with the FBI; they need to ask you some questions."

Lindsay looked them both over warily but smiled slightly and nodded. "Not here though."

They followed her out of the hospital, to a bench on the grass that was obviously put there for patients who were able to get out of their room and get some air. She sat down and when Messer realised Jess wasn't going to sit down next to her he did it himself. She looked shaken now, sat forward on the bench, hunched over herself slightly, an anxious, insecure posture.

"What do you need to know?" she asked looking up at her and Don.

"We need to know what happened," Jess told her. "I know you already went through all of this with the police but we need you to go through it with us, we might pick up something the police missed."

"I drove home from work; I had a late shift so it was dark when I got home. I got out of the car, I had to park a little away from my building but it wasn't far. I was just walking along the street; I thought I heard someone behind me so I turned around but there wasn't anyone there. I sped up, I was probably just a few steps away from the door, someone grabbed me from behind," Lindsay explained, her eyes were unfocused, she was reliving it.

"Take your time," Don said as Lindsay paused, her hands shaking.

"He put a cloth over my mouth, I tried to get free but... he was a lot stronger than me. Everything went dark and the next thing I know I'm waking up in the trunk of a car. Its pitch black but I can hear the car engine; I can feel the car moving. I started screaming for help, trying to force my way out, he must not have closed the trunk properly because it opened. I didn't even think about it, I just threw myself out... it hurt like hell."

"Did he stop the car?" Don asked and Lindsay nodded, clasping her hands together in an effort to keep them still.

"I could barely drag myself up from the road, my head felt fuzzy; my body didn't feel like it was working properly. I didn't understand what was happening; I just knew I had to run. He got out of the car and started walking towards me and I just ran. I didn't know where I was going, I just kept running until I ran into a couple of people," Lindsay finished taking a deep breath to calm herself and both Don and Jess gave her a minute before continuing.

"When the man walked towards you, did you get a look at him?" Jess questioned.

Lindsay shook her head apologetically. "It was dark and my head was all over the place... I didn't..."

"It's alright Lindsay," Danny placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "The chloroform was still in your system, it's not your fault."

"Could you tell us anything else about him?" Don asked. "Did he say anything, do anything?"

Lindsay looked thoughtful. "He just... told me to get back in the car, I'm sorry, I really wish I could help you more but..." Lindsay trailed off.

"It's alright Miss Monroe, you did great," Jess said and handed her card to the young woman. "If you think of anything, please call."

Lindsay nodded and took the card, the two agents left and after a few moments Messer followed them. Jess noticed him look back at Lindsay several times before they were out of sight; it was only natural for him to be concerned with a surviving victim in a case like this. Sometimes investigators got attached to witnesses or people involved in their cases, she had a feeling this was something different though.

* * *

The victim list had gained two names in less than a day, first Lindsay Monroe and now another young woman found dead in an alleyway. The cooling off period had shortened dramatically now, if he'd kept this latest victim for two days like he had all the others it meant he had kidnapped her only a day after killing Diana Swanson. Don walked onto the crime scene, forensics had already finished processing and the body would be moved shortly. The woman looked to be about twenty, pretty, long brown hair, same as all the other victims.

"We've managed to get an ID on her, one of the uniforms recognised her," Messer said as he walked over to them. "Andrea Bell, 21 years old, she's the nanny for his kids. He said he saw her three days ago, his wife's taking some time off work and so she'd been taking care of the kids instead, apparently Andrea was real happy to get some time off too."

"Did he say why?" Jess questioned.

"Boyfriend had been wanting to take her on vacation for a while, said this was her chance to go," Messer explained and Jess looked down at the woman.

"So why is she here and not tanning on a beach somewhere?" she questioned.

"That would be a question for the boyfriend," Don said as he knelt down next to the body. He started cataloguing the injuries, his mind comparing them to the photos of the other women. He could already see the similarities, the same type of blade had been used, cigarette burns on the shoulders, arms and stomach, taser burns on her chest and stomach, bruises in a lot of the same places.

"I got a couple of people on the way to his place now, I'll have him taken down to the precinct," Messer told them walking away again.

"We're losing light," Don said looking up at the sky for a moment then back at Jess. "Let's let them take the body, I doubt the ME will get to the autopsy until tomorrow. We can talk to the boyfriend and then I'd suggest we get some sleep."

Jess nodded her agreement and the two of them left, heading for the black SUV that they'd driven to the scene in. When they arrived at the precinct Don sat in on the interview with Detective Messer while Jess watched from the next room. The boyfriend was distraught; it took ten minutes for him to pull himself together enough to continue the interview. He'd had to go to his brother's wedding yesterday, that was why he hadn't taken her on vacation; they'd planned to go over the weekend instead, a long weekend somewhere nice.

"Did you not notice she was missing?" Don questioned.

"I wasn't expecting to see her," the boyfriend replied. "We had my brother's stag night and we were completely hung over from that. I text her yesterday after the wedding but she never text back, I just figured she was busy and I'd see her tomorrow. I should have just taken her on vacation, or taken her to the wedding but she didn't want to go, she doesn't... didn't know my brother all that well yet, said she'd feel out of place, if she'd just been with me..."

"You couldn't have known," Messer said. The boyfriend broke down again then and Don knew they weren't going to get anything else useful out of him, at least not then.

* * *

Jess closed the file she'd been scanning through as Don parked the car in the hotel parking lot. It had been a long day and they had a lot of new information to process. Having had very little sleep for the last couple of nights they were both in need of a break, a chance to recuperate so they could come back to everything with a fresh set of eyes. They both got out of the car wordlessly, walking into the hotel and Jess nodded an acknowledgement to the woman on reception who smiled tiredly as the phone began to ring.

Don hit the button for the elevator and Jess noticed a couple staring at them curiously, word had obviously gotten around that FBI agents were staying in the building. She was relieved when the elevator arrived, the doors closing her off from the curious stares. It was something she'd learned to ignore when she was on the job, the looks and stares she would sometimes get but for some reason when she wasn't working it still made her uncomfortable.

"I think we have enough information for a preliminary profile," Don stated as he leaned back against the wall of the elevator. Jess turned to look at him, the case file still in her hand, it wasn't exactly pleasant bed time reading but it would be there if she couldn't sleep. "We should head in early tomorrow, go through everything we know and then present the profile to the officers."

"So I'll meet you for breakfast at 7:00?" she questioned. "We can get something to eat and then be at the precinct before 8:00."

"Sounds good, I'll talk to Taylor and Messer in the morning about setting up a press conference," Don added. "Give the public what we know so far."

Jess nodded. "Are you going to do the press conference or do you want me to do it?"

The elevator reached their floor and the two of them stepped out, heading down the corridor. "You do it; I'm going to make sure everything is in place for the onslaught of calls we're going to get as soon as the press conference is over."

They reached the wall between their rooms and Jess turned to look at him for a moment. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Night," he said and she went to her room, fishing her key out of her pocket and giving him one last glance before she went into her room. They never stayed together when on a case, were never anything other than professional, work was work and they kept it at that. They hadn't gone into this lightly, for her part she'd spent the better part of a year telling herself all the reasons why falling for her partner was a bad idea and convincing herself he would never return those feelings. She hadn't been able to switch it off though, especially once she'd realised the feelings weren't just going one way.

She didn't even understand exactly what they had; they hadn't really talked about it since it had started a few months ago. They only went out to dinner on occasion, not that work provided them a lot of free time for dating. It was the reason so many of her relationships failed, her work was more than just what she did, it was a part of who she was and boyfriends had never been able to understand that, many of her friends had never been able to understand that, and the sometimes insane working hours had cost her. They'd stay at each other's apartments, usually at his, but she hadn't introduced him to the handful of friends she had that the job hadn't cost her, and she'd met none of his.

She shook herself out of her thoughts, they would do nothing either to help her sleep or solve the case which meant they had no place in her head right now. Changing into sweat pants and a baggy t-shirt she climbed into bed, the case file on the bedside table in case she found a use for it but she knew she needed to sleep, tomorrow was going to be busy and she needed all the rest she could get. She could still hear Don moving around in the next room, but those sounds soon stopped so he was either in bed or reading the case files she knew he'd have with him, she hoped it was the former.

* * *

Breakfast had been eaten quickly, Jess was still eating a slice of toast as she and Don walked into the precinct. Taylor was already there, she could hear his voice coming from his office and he didn't sound happy with whoever he was talking to. Messer hadn't arrived yet but there were a lot of other detectives and uniforms moving about the place, most of them working their own cases but sticking around for the profile that would be given later.

Don and Jess sat in the room they'd been given, the evidence board to one side covered in pictures and information, the desk buried in files and paper. They spent an hour going through everything, putting bits of the profile together to ensure nothing was missed out. Jess called Macey and the two of them worked out what to say during the press conference, it wasn't her first but Jess was a profiler, not a media liaison and it always helped to have input from one, especially for issues as sensitive as this, she wanted to warn people not panic them.

It was almost 9:30 when Taylor had his people gather for the profile and Jess stood beside Don in front of them all. She was used to this part of the job, the dozens of eyes on her, some hopeful, some cynical and she was prepared for not only the questions she would get but the criticism of them, their job and their profile. It would be nothing new, nothing she hadn't seen and dealt with before.

"What we're about to give you is a preliminary profile," Don told the room, emphasising the point. "More may be added or changed as we receive new information but we feel it's important to give you at least some idea of the person you're looking for," he continued, his eyes watching the room. "The person you're looking for is a white male, approximately 25 – 35. He's a sexual sadist, he derives pleasure from the pain and torture of his victims, he gets on off on it, in fact he can't off without it."

"This won't be new to him, he'll have a history of deviant behaviour starting from his early childhood, he most likely has priors for things like peeping, stalking and assault. His choice of victim likely reflects someone he knows or has known, someone he feels has wronged him in some way and he picks victims that resemble them," Jess took over. Several of the officers and detectives were making notes, taking in what was being said, others were looking incredulous. "He'll have poor social skills, keeps to himself, is very much isolated from the people around him. He won't be able to sustain romantic relationships, he may have enticed previous girlfriends into sexual activities that cause them pain, it could be for this reason that the relationships ended. He's intelligent and egocentric, he believes he's better than others and that includes the police, he understands the power of law enforcement but he doesn't respect it. He covers his crimes meticulously and he believes he can't be caught."

"He'll take the girls somewhere he feels safe, a place he's chosen in advance that's quiet and isolated, somewhere the chances of them being found and rescued are small. He'll take his time with them, prolonging the torture until his desire to kill becomes too strong to resist," Don told them, getting into the unpleasant details of the crime that were horrible to hear but still essential to understanding and catching the UNSUB. "He'll take souvenirs from his victims, clothes, jewellery, maybe even photographs and videotapes and he probably keeps any media articles related to the case. These all help him to relive the experience after the kill and he'll continue to get off on it until it's not enough anymore, this is when he'll kidnap another girl."

Jess stepped back in there. "Someone here has likely already met the killer, he'll want to inject himself into the investigation and he's probably done this more than once already."

"His cooling off period, the time he takes to relive the experience between kills, is getting shorter, this means he'll probably kidnap another girl within a couple of days," Don stated, finishing off the profile with a reason for them all to take it and seriously get to work.

There were several questions thrown at them, a few comments about it all just being guess work but both she and Don were used to it by now, giving well rehearsed replies to the critics and answering the rest of the questions with more interest. Most of the officers went back to work; some of the detectives who had merely been sitting in on the profile in case they came across something went back to their own cases.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: As promised the third chapter is here and this is a long one. Thank you to everyone who read the last chapter or added it to their favourites and alerts. Special thanks to; Brinchen86, luckybluedog, dannymesserforever11, Runner043, CSI4lyfNCIS13, afrozenheart412 and falling into heaven for their reviews!**

Chapter 3

Don leaned back on the desk as he watched Jess stand behind the podium that had been set up for the press conference outside the precinct. Detective Messer was stood by her side as the reporters and journalists that had gathered there quietened, cameras and microphones being thrust toward Jess as the press waited eagerly for something they could report or print.

"Good morning, thank you for coming," Jess began; her face was an unreadable mask. "I'm Agent Jessica Angell with the FBI Behavioural Analysis unit, we're here consulting on the murders of Jolene Marian, Bethany Gail, Melissa Davies, Claire Alexander, Annie Green, Diane Swanson and Andrea Bell."

"So are you confirming that the murders are connected?" one of the reporters questioned, interrupting.

"Please hold your questions until the end," Jess replied patiently. "But yes, we believe the murders were committed by the same person. What I'm about to give you is a preliminary profile, I must stress that this really is just a preliminary profile, we'll update you with more details when we have them. The person we're looking for is male, approximately 25 to 35..."

Jess continued to give the parts of the profile that they felt it was necessary and useful for the public to know and stressed extra caution, especially among the women of the city. Everything seemed to be set up for the tip line, phone operators were in place, ready to field the numerous calls that would come flooding in, people who were sure their next door neighbour was a killer. It would be up to the people answering the phones to determine which tips required more attention while making note of every name and suspicion that got thrown at them.

Both Jess and Messer were taking questions from the press, Jess continuing to take point, giving out only the information that they wanted the public to be aware of and subtly dodging unwanted questions. She was better at this than Don was, he knew how to handle the media, it came with the job and he'd done press conferences countless times before but she handled it better than he did, she was also much more of a people person.

"She seems very comfortable up there," Captain Taylor commented as he came to stand beside him.

"She hates it," Don replied, she was just very good at hiding it.

"Well she gets the job done," Taylor stated as Jess wrapped up the press conference. She and Messer left the podium and walked back into the precinct and Don glanced at the door she'd come walking through any minute.

"Everything ready here?" Don asked and Taylor nodded. As if on cue one of the phones rang, the first of many tips, most of which would be useless but there was always the chance that someone out there did know something helpful. Jess walked into the room with Detective Messer close behind her, he could see her visibly slump now that she was away from the cameras and the reporters.

"That went well," she said as she reached them.

"We need to go speak to Andrea Bell's family," Don told her and she nodded. The two of them left the precinct with Detective Messer, the drive to Andrea Bell's home being made in silence. The family had been notified of Andrea's death yesterday so they were spared the unpleasant task of having to inform them, it wasn't going to make this any easier though. Andrea's home was in a quiet neighbourhood, white picket fences and neatly kept lawns. Children were playing in the street; a couple of mother's close by watching them and a father teaching his daughter to ride a bike. It seemed at odds with the reason they were there, that behind one of the doors was a grieving family.

The woman who answered the door had a striking resemblance to their most recent victim and Don guessed rightly that she was the mother. She invited them in, called her husband in from another room, the man appearing from behind a doorway.

"These people are the FBI," she told her husband who looked them over.

"How could you let this happen?" he questioned, they were used to the anger from victim's families, had come to expect it.

"Mr Bell, I assure you we're doing everything we can to find the man responsible for this and stop him," Don stated, keeping his voice and posture calm. "I know this is difficult but we need to ask you some questions about your daughter."

"She has two older brothers," the mother told him, fresh tears coming to her eyes that she was trying to force back. "And I love both of them but I prayed for a girl, and then I got Andrea and she was everything I could have dreamed of. She was always so girly, wanting to wear pretty clothes and play dress up. She'd sneak into my room and use my makeup, she'd come downstairs covered in it. We did everything together even as she got older... now she's gone. Nothing you can do or say is going to bring her back so tell me Agents, why should I answer any of your questions."

"Because Mrs Bell," Jess said quietly but firmly. "You can help us to prevent this man from doing this to someone else, from taking someone else's little girl and you can help us make sure that he doesn't get away with what he did to Andrea."

There was a moment of silence throughout the room before Mrs Bell nodded her head, losing her battle with the tears. "Ask your questions."

* * *

Lindsay followed the uniformed officer through the police precinct. She'd seen Danny and the FBI Agent give the press conference yesterday and she was pleased to see they were starting to make some progress in the investigation. She'd been at work at the time though so she hadn't been able to stop and think about it for long, a patient had coded nearby and she'd had to rush off before the press conference was even over. It had kept her up most of the night though, her mind processing everything Agent Angell had said about the man who had tried to kidnap her.

It had been harder to focus at work all morning, her thoughts still running a mile a minute coupled with tiredness from the lack of sleep. She'd been on the verge of asking to go home so she could sort through it all when she'd found the letter pinned to her locker. She'd read the contents of it quickly before putting it back into the envelope it had come in and letting her colleagues know she had to take off for a while. They hadn't been happy but most of them didn't know much about what had happened to her so she wouldn't begrudge them that.

The officer pointed to Danny who was at the other side of the room with the two FBI agents. He spotted her and gave her a small smile, the uniform nodding to her and leaving. She made her way over to them, smiling her greeting to the two agents as Danny offered her a chair.

"I can't really stay long, I'm supposed to be at work but I found this pinned to my locker and thought I should bring it here as soon as possible," she told them pulling the envelope from her purse. Danny grabbed some latex gloves from the desk he was leaning on and took it from her, opening it up and scanning the contents. Detective Flack grabbed another glove, not putting it on just holding it in his hand, using it to cover his fingers as Danny handed him the letter, Angell reading it over his shoulder.

"When did you get this?" Danny questioned.

"I found it on my locker, less than half an hour ago, I came straight here," Lindsay told him. "I haven't let anyone else touch it."

Danny took the letter back from the agents when they were finished with it. "I'll get this to Bonasera over at the crime lab, have it dusted for fingerprints.

"We'll need a copy," Don told him and Danny nodded.

"Unless you have any questions I have to get back to work," Lindsay told them and stood up but Danny shook his head.

"There will be questions and we need to get a security detail assigned to you," he told her and she bit her lip, sitting back down.

"We'll head over to the hospital and see about getting hold of any security footage," Flack said. "Do you have any idea when the letter might have been left?"

"It wasn't there when I got to work at eight, so any time between then and half an hour ago," Lindsay told them hoping she could be more useful to them than she felt she had been so far. The letter had rattled her, the idea that the killer could have walked right up to her locker unnoticed wasn't settling well. The contents of the letter didn't help either, knowing he was thinking about her, that he was coming back for her... that he already had his eye on another victim. The words were going to haunt her for a long time.

'_I want you to know I have not forgotten you and I won't forget you. You're on my mind, the one that got away, the one left unfinished. I'll be back for you but I have other girls to take, I found one already and then there's this other woman, she's caught my attention, in the same way that you have. I'll have her soon too...'_

She shook her head as though trying to shake the words out of it. He was already planning his next kill, already knew who he was going to take, did he already have her or was he still biding his time. Then there was this other woman, the way he drew attention to her in his letter, somehow she knew his plans for this second woman would be worse than his plans for all the others and somehow she knew his plans for Lindsay herself were going to be just as horrible.

"Are you alright?" Danny questioned and she looked up from the spot on the desk she'd been staring at. She hadn't even realised the two agents had left, she needed to get it together, she was no use to anyone like this. She nodded her head, from the look on his face she knew he didn't believe her.

* * *

After running through hours of security footage Don and Jess had discovered that the note had been brought in by another of the hospital's employees, a cleaner. He'd been offered some money in exchange for delivering the message to the desired locker but he'd had no idea of the contents, just figured it was some sort of secret admirer. He recalled very little of the man that had given him the letter, just that he was tall, had dark brown hair, brown eyes and was wearing jeans and a blue shirt. He'd been friendly but a little awkward, the cleaner had thought he was just nervous over the request he was making. It wasn't much but it was something to add to the profile.

They spent the rest of the day talking to people who knew the victims and had been at the precinct until late going through victimology. It had been the early hours of the morning when they'd gone back to the hotel for a few hours sleep and had been back at the precinct before the sun had even come up. Since then they'd spent the day tracking down potential leads and suspects, most coming from the tip line but nothing had come out of it so far.

Jess got out of the SUV and looked up at the apartment building in front of her. It was around the corner from where the second victim had been killed which was why this particular tip had caught her attention. She glanced at her watch, it was well passed lunch time, after this one she was getting something to eat. She'd seen a nice looking sandwich shop on her way here and it wouldn't hurt to make a stop there when she left.

Heading into the building Jess glanced behind her, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. It wasn't the first time either, it had happened a couple of times now but like the other times there was no visible source of the feeling. The case was obviously getting to her, she was tired and the clock was ticking. The letter the UNSUB had send to Lindsay Monroe told them the killer already had his eyes set on at least two other victims, plus Lindsay herself. She shook off the feeling and went into the building passing by some teenagers on the stairs outside the door and flashing them a glare when they got a little mouthy.

Darren Priestly lived on the third floor and she was greeted at the apartment door by a blonde haired little girl. An older man came up behind her, scolding her for opening the door without him. The girl apologised and skipped away into another room. The older man turned to Jess with a warm smile.

"I'm sorry, her father is out of town for the week and I volunteered to take care of her, my son clearly passed on his ability to not do as he's told," he apologised and Jess smiled as she pulled out her badge.

"That's fine, I'm Agent Angell with the FBI."

"Please, come in," Priestly said stepping back and gesturing for her to enter. "I take it this is about what I saw," he stated as he closed the door and Jess nodded. "I'm not even sure it's relevant, I didn't think anything of it until I watched the press conference and it sort of it hit me."

"Even the smallest thing can be relevant and helpful," Jess encouraged.

"In the few days before that girl was kidnapped around the corner there was a man hanging around the area. I hadn't seen him before and I haven't seen him since then. One night I saw him bump into the girl, knocked some things out of her hands. He was perfectly nice, apologised, helped her pick her things up. He seemed kind of awkward though, didn't make much eye contact," Priestly explained, his face thoughtful as he remembered.

"Do you remember what this man looked like?" Jess asked making a mental note of everything being said.

"It was always dark," Priestly replied. "He was tall, dark hair, white, maybe around thirty years old."

"How often did you see him?"

"Only a handful of times but it was always around the same time, not long after it got dark," he told her as the little girl came running in with a doll tucked under her arm. She informed her grandfather that she was hungry and after the promise of a McDonalds for lunch she ran off again to get hers and Dolly's coats.

"What about Bethany Gail, did you see her often?" Jess asked, fitting everything into the profile, it definitely sounded like it could be their guy.

"Almost every day, she walks... walked down this street almost the same time every day, I assume she was heading to or from work, something like that. I talked to her once or twice, she seemed like a nice girl," Priestly told her sadly.

"Thank you Mr Priestly, you've been extremely helpful," Jess told him. The little girl came running back obviously ready to go eat and Jess decided not to keep them any longer. "If you think of anything else, please get in touch."

"I will, I really hope you catch him," Priestly replied lowering his voice in the little girl's presence. Jess left hearing the girl's voice as she excitedly tried to hurry her grandfather along. She pulled out her cell and called Don, it took him a while to answer so she figured he was probably with a witness. She passed by the teenagers that had gotten mouthy with her on the way in. Most of them stayed quiet, there was only one that hadn't been sufficiently deterred by the glare she'd levelled them with on the way in. Not having the patience to deal with them she flashed her badge as Don answered the phone.

"We may have something," she told him enjoying the fact that the teenager had slammed his mouth shut. She paid them no further attention as she got in the car. "Witness says he saw a man hanging around the area in the few days before Bethany Gail was kidnapped. He hadn't seen him before and hasn't seen him since.

"Did you get a description?" Don's voice questioned.

"A vague one, tall, white male, around 30 years old, not much but it fits with the profile and the other witness reports," Jess said starting her car and leaning back against the head rest for a moment, she could feel a headache coming on.

"If it is our guy it means he's been watching his victims, he knows their routines, when his opportunities are," Don stated thought fully.

"I'm about to head back to the precinct, I'm going to grab lunch on the way, do you want me to pick you something up?" she questioned, her hunger making itself known.

"Yeah thanks, I'll meet you there soon," Don replied and Jess hung up, tossing her phone on the passenger seat and driving to the sandwich shop she'd seen earlier.

* * *

Don was working his way through the case files, putting everything into an order that would be easier to understand, looking for patterns or consistencies that may have been missed before. It was file after file of pain and death but it was nothing he hadn't seen before, nothing he wouldn't see again. He wondered what it said about his life that the thought of that didn't daunt him.

"Alright," Jess said as she walked into the room, cell phone in hand, Messer walking in right behind her." I just spoke to Adam, he's still looking into the victim's backgrounds but he's found no connections so far, he's still digging."

"We already ran background checks," Messer said sounding somewhat indignant that they'd think he hadn't.

"We know," Jess replied. "But Adam's got a lot more access to a lot more databases from his little office at Quantico, he might find something in some obscure place that no one else would ever have though to look, he's good at that."

Messer nodded, losing the defensive posture, apparently accepting the answer. He looked like he was about to say something but was cut off by the captain hurrying into the room, the look on his face telling Don he wasn't there to deliver good news.

"We may have another victim."

* * *

"Sarah Mathews was twenty years old, had long brown hair and spent three nights a week playing soccer for the local girl's team. She was an in shape, pretty, young brunette, all of which fit the victim type. She'd worked a late shift at the cafe she'd worked at for the last two years and her roommate had woken up that morning to find she hadn't come home. After several unanswered phone calls the roommate had called the police.

"She always called," the roommate, Carol, told them, her concern was obvious, bordering on panic. "It's rare that she doesn't come home but when she doesn't she calls. If she's even gonna be late she sends me a text to let me know and since these women have been going missing we decided to be extra vigilant, there's no way she'd not come home."

"And there's no chance she's staying at another friends, didn't want to walk home so crashed somewhere else?" Jess asked her. Messer was sat beside her and Don was somewhere in the apartment, probably the missing girl's bedroom, taking a look around.

"Not without calling me," Carol reiterated, panic was edging closer, she was holding on by a thread. "Besides I called our friends, anyone she might have stayed with, just before I called you, none of them know where she is. She's not the type to do this, we've lived together for three years and in all that time she has never failed to let me know if she's going to be late or not come home at all, she knows I'm a worrier."

"When was the last time you spoke to her?" Messer questioned.

Carol looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yesterday, just before she left for work, so around noon. She text me a couple of hours later, she was laughing about a customer she'd just served, a woman that was wearing a funny hat, she said she'd take a picture and show me when she got home."

"Do you know of anyone who had a problem with Sarah, anyone that might have a reason to harm her, an ex boyfriend, a customer at work, anyone?" Jess asked but Carol shook her head.

"No," Sarah replied. "Sarah isn't perfect but she isn't a confrontational person, she'd rather back down and let someone else have their way just to keep the peace. Her last boyfriend turned out to be a jerk but he wouldn't do this, they actually ended things well and that was months ago now. There was one customer at the cafe that gave her the creeps, he used to show up every day, he thought he was charming, used to flirt with her and just about every other woman in there, again though, that was months ago."

"Do you know the name of the customer?" Danny asked.

"I'm not... Andrew... I think that was his name, I don't know his last name," Carol told them.

"Was it normal for her to be walking home alone at that time?" Jess questioned.

"Yeah, she usually worked the late shift on a Thursday," Carol replied. "I was really tired last night, I went to bed. I should have waited up for her, if I hadn't gone to sleep I would have known sooner that she hadn't come home, maybe it would have helped."

"There's no way you could have known," Jess reassured her knowing it would do little good. "You called as soon as you could and you've been very helpful."

She nodded to Messer who continued to speak to the woman while Jess went in search of Don. She located him easily enough in Sarah's bedroom, standing by the window, skimming though the woman's day planner. She could see a diary peeking out from under the pillow on the bed and a notice board was hanging from the wall, several letters and papers pinned to it.

"Find anything?" Jess questioned and Don looked up from the day planner.

"Nothing unusual, for the last few weeks, it's been nothing but soccer practice, soccer games and work," he stated, his eyes going back to the planner. "The last time she seemed to do anything particularly sociable was almost four weeks ago, girl's night."

"Roommate said they've been extra cautious since the murders started, they might have decided against going out for a while. Either way, this ought to tell us what she's been up to," Jess replied as she pulled the diary out from under the pillow. "I hate going though victim's diaries, it feels like such a disrespectful invasion."

"It's one of the best insights we have into a victim, they can lie and pretend to everyone around them but they have no reason to lie in their own diaries, they'll put things in there they wouldn't tell family or friends," Don justified, of course Jess already knew that, it didn't make her feel much better about doing it. She read through the diary entries, starting with the more recent and working her way backwards.

"She thought she was being followed," Jess stated as she read and Don looked over at her. "In her last entry two days ago, it says she was sure a man had been following her around all day. She'd tried to lose him a couple of times but he always seemed to find her again."

"Does she give a description of the guy?" he asked her and Jess shook her head.

"Nothing useful, white, short dark hair, black coat and dark jeans," she told him. "She only caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye, she couldn't even swear she was being followed, it was just a gut feeling. If fits with our guy though."

Don nodded. "We need to talk to the people she worked with, see if anyone saw anything."

* * *

No one at the cafe had been able to tell them anything useful about Sarah. She'd left work in one piece, the manager had left at the same time as her and he hadn't seen anything. He'd told them she seemed nervous about something but hadn't mentioned anyone following her and he didn't remember any customers being an issue for her recently. He did however recall Andrew, the same customer that Sarah's roommate had mentioned from months ago.

It had taken them most of the day to track down 'Andrew'. He turned out to be a salesman who thought he was God's gift to women but he'd moved to Colorado the previous month and hadn't been back since, he had an alibi for the time of her disappearance so that turned out to be a dead end.

Another night of short and restless sleep later Don and Jess were both back in the precinct. Don was altering the geographic profile and Jess was interviewing Jenna Mathews, the victim's sister, the only person she had mentioned being followed to. Sarah had been missing for over a day and if the killer stuck to pattern it gave them only a day left to find her.

"What does he do to them?" Jenna questioned.

"What?" Jess asked, slightly confused by the question.

"The man who has been killing all these women, who has my sister, what does he do to them?" she asked and Jess shook her head, knowing the woman would not want the details of what was most likely happening to her sister while they sat there talking. "I know you're going to say it would be best if I didn't know but I need to, I need to know what's happening to her."

"Jenna, believe me, knowing won't help you," Jess told her. Tears built up in the girl's eyes and Jess rested a hand on her arm, as comforting a gesture as she could give her right now.

"Why aren't you out there finding her, why are you in here talking to me while that man hurts Sarah, why aren't you out there doing something to stop him?" Jenna questioned, anger working its way into her tone.

"I can assure you, everything that can be done to find Sarah is being done. The best thing you can do to help is tell me about her, tell me anything she may have told you about the man she thought was following her," Jess explained and gave Jenna a moment to collect herself before continuing with her questions. "How long did she think she was being followed for?"

"I don't know, a few days at least," Jenna replied gripping the tissue in her hand tightly. "She wasn't even completely sure she was being followed, she just had a feeling, was sure she kept seeing the same guy but she never got a good look at him."

"Did she mention where or when she saw him, what she was doing at the time?" Jess asked and Jenna bit her lip, thoughtful expression on her face as she mentally went back over her recent conversations with her sister.

"Once when she was on her way home from work, the late shift, so it was dark. I think she saw him at her soccer game a few days ago, she said she might have seen him watching the game. I don't know about the other times, that's all she really told me," Jenna said and Jess nodded as she noted down both occasions. "I told her not to work the late shift at work for a while, that if someone was following her she shouldn't be out at night, why didn't she listen?"

Jess had no answer for her.

* * *

It was getting late, most people had gone home for the night leaving only the night shift and a few detectives in the precinct. They had made little to no progress on the case and the knowledge that Sarah Mathews could be living her final few hours of life would not allow Don much sleep, if any at all. Even as it approached midnight and Don could feel exhaustion creeping into his body he couldn't bring himself to go back to the hotel. Jess was still going through calls from the tip line, looking for any lead that might be worth pursuing. She looked exhausted and Don had told her more than once that she should head back to the hotel and get some sleep, her response was always 'so should you' followed by her going back to whatever she'd been doing.

He briefly considered going back to the hotel and reading through case files in his room for a couple of hours just on the chance that she would go to her own room and sleep for a while. Instead he volunteered to get them both fresh coffee and left the room they'd been given to work in, heading for the break room.

He spotted Messer still sitting as his desk but unexpectedly Lindsay Monroe was with him, they were both talking quietly, sitting a little too close. Their expressions were grim, the weight of a life hanging in the balance hanging over the precinct like a storm cloud. He saw Lindsay reach out and touch the back of his hand, a comforting gesture that was a little too intimate. Messer turned his hand around, capturing her fingers for a moment before letting go.

Don had wondered about the relationship between the two of them since Messer had introduced them to Lindsay. He had been fairly sure that there was nothing actually going on but the more of their behaviour he observed the more unsure he was of that. If there really was nothing going on, they both wanted there to be.

He passed by them, nodding to them as he did so and went into the break room. There was another detective in there, she was working her own case and Don had overheard her talking to her partner about it earlier, a man murdered in his bathroom, drowned in his own bath tub while his two year old daughter slept in the next room. Thankfully the girl hadn't been hurt and she'd still been sleeping when her mother had arrived home to find her husband's body, a small mercy. There were moments, few as they were, when Don wondered whether or not it all really made a difference, for every monster he helped put behind bars there were dozens more just like them still out there.

She smiled at him as she left, going back to case files and witness reports that would probably keep her at the precinct for hours to come. Cases that kept you up into the late hours of the morning and then invaded the dreams of the little sleep you did manage to get were just a part of their job, something you had to accept and learn to live with or it would burn you out.

He grabbed the coffee for him and Jess, heading back to the briefing room, passing by Messer and Lindsay on the way. It was a few hours later that they got the phone call, Sarah Mathews was dead.


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note: There's only one more chapter after this one, I hope it was worth the wait. Special thanks to luckybluedog, CSI4lyfNCIS13 and afrozenheart412 for the reviews. **

Chapter 4

Jess pushed her way through the reporters that had gathered outside the precinct since news of Sarah Mathews death had gotten around, which hadn't taken long. She and Don had been the ones to inform her family, speaking first to her parents and sister and then her roommate, feeling that both deserved to be told immediately and face to face. It was never easy, to tell someone that they'd lost someone close to them, friend or relative, it was one of the hardest parts of the job and not one you ever got used to.

She felt a hand grab her arm, a reporter, one who was apparently a little more determined to get her attention. She turned to him and levelled him with a look that made him quickly let go.

"A statement will be released to the press this afternoon, until then, please be patient and allow us to do our jobs," she called out knowing it would only cause a handful of the reporters to back down.

"Then why aren't you doing them," a voice called out just as Jess was about to continue into the police station. She looked for the source of the voice, a man standing in the middle of the crowd and Jess recognised him easily, Claire Alexander's brother. She'd been the fourth victim and Jess had spoken with her mother in the first few days she'd been here, her brother had been in the house and his dislike for her had been obvious. She hadn't taken it personally; he was grieving for the loss of his sister, looking for someone to blame and the members of law enforcement he believed should have protected her were the easiest targets.

"Excuse me?" she said, turning to look at him.

"You're the FBI, you've been here for days now, you should have caught him by now. Why is my sister's killer still out there killing all these women, why haven't you stopped him?" he questioned, raising his voice both out of anger and a need to be heard.

"Mr Alexander, I assure you we're doing everything we can to find and stop this man."

"No you're not, if you were you would have caught him by now, you're the FBI, why can't you stop one man?" he asked and she didn't bother to answer from the sound of his voice he planned to answer his own question. "I saw you the other day, out having lunch with the other FBI guy, how are you going to catch him when you're sat in a diner taking your time with a burger and fries?"

Jess remembered that, it was a couple of days after they arrived and they'd been on their way back from visiting the family of one of the victims. They'd been at it since early that morning; they'd only eaten some toast on their way to station and hadn't stopped to eat since. They'd decided to grab a late lunch while they went over the details of the case, threw some theories about.

She was saved from having to answer by Don's arrival; he walked out of the station doors and straight to her answering the question himself. "We're doing everything we can to find this man, it'll do no one any good if we pass out from starvation, we can't stop anyone that way, please excuse us."

Jess followed him into the precinct, cursing herself as she walked through the doors for allowing herself to be led into a confrontation. "Thanks."

"Saw you on the news," Don gestured to a nearby TV with a live feed from outside the precinct. "Thought you could use a hand."

"I walked right into that one, you'd think I'd have learned by now," she replied, mentally kicking herself.

"It happens to the best of us," Don shrugged.

"But he was looking for a fight..." Jess began, not quite done with beating herself up over it yet.

"And he didn't get one, that's what matters, you handled it better than I would have if I'd been surprised by him," Don told her and she raised an eyebrow at him disbelievingly.

"Yeah right," she replied but managed a smile anyway; this case was really getting to her if she was letting something as small as that get to her so much. The news report had nothing good to say, about the case or the people working it but that was to be expected. People were angry, another death, another woman's life cut short, just like Claire Alexander's brother, people needed someone to blame and the people who were supposed stop the bad guys were the most convenient target.

* * *

Danny hadn't been overjoyed when Mac told him he'd called in the FBI; he'd been even less pleased when he'd been informed it was profilers that were coming into to help. He didn't believe in profiling, at least not to the extent the FBI seemed to. He could understand that some things could be figured out from the behaviour of a killer, a victim type, MO, but they seemed to pull a whole personality out of what kind of weapon the guy used and that didn't seem plausible to him.

Since Flack and Angell's arrival they'd gained two more bodies, two more women had lost their lives and they were no closer to finding the person responsible. The public were even angrier than they had been before, the arrival of the FBI had raised the expectation level and they just weren't able to meet it. The case was beginning to take a toll on him, so many women, so many lives lost and they still had no solid leads, no way to stop him.

He'd cancelled dinner with his parents twice, they'd rearranged it for a few nights from now but he had a feeling he was going to have to cancel. His brother had gotten himself in trouble again and because Danny had been working the case he'd missed the messages from his brother who'd ended up spending the night in a cell and was due in court in a few days. To say his brother was mad at him was an understatement; Louie was refusing to even answer his calls.

"Danny," a voice he'd recognise anywhere questioned and he turned around to see Lindsay standing behind him, a piece of paper in her hand.

"Hey, you okay?" he questioned.

"Yeah but... I got another letter," she told him biting his lip as he held his hand out for it. She was reluctant to hand it over, that coupled with her obvious anxiety left an unpleasant feeling in his stomach. She gave the paper to him and Danny told a nearby uniform to get Flack and Angell from the briefing room.

He read through the contents of the letter, the unpleasant feeling in his stomach intensifying as he did so. It was short, like the last one had been but in very few words it had managed to make Danny angry, worried and nauseous. He understood why Lindsay had hesitated to show him the letter; she had to have known this wouldn't go down well. Flack and Angell arrived and Danny wordlessly handed them the letter, ignoring the raised eyebrow he got from them.

"He wants to meet with you," Don stated as he read the letter.

"But why?" Lindsay questioned, far more calmly than Danny would have expected, for more calmly than he felt.

"You're the one that got away, his unfinished business," Flack replied.

"So he wants to finish what he started?" Lindsay questioned quietly.

"Possibly, he's fixated on you now, you and whoever this other woman is he keeps mentioning," Angell stated.

"It says he wants to meet me in the park this afternoon," Lindsay said and Danny had a feeling he knew where this was going, his gut twisted painfully as she said the words. "Maybe I can go meet him and you guys could get him, a trap."

"Absolutely not," Danny said firmly. "There's no way in hell we're using you as bate."

"But if it helps you to catch him..." Lindsay began but Danny cut her off.

"No, it's not happening, we'll find another way to get him," he told her and he could see Flack and Angell ready with protests of their own.

"It could be the best chance we have of stopping him," Flack stated and Danny turned on him.

"This is my investigation, you were brought in to help me, I make the final decisions, we're not using Lindsay as bate," he told them all, his tone leaving no room for argument and he walked away both to prevent further protest and to allow himself time to calm down. Just the thought of Lindsay going to meet with this monster was enough to make him sick, every instinct in him screaming at him to make sure it didn't happen.

* * *

Don glanced at his watch; it was five minutes after the time Lindsay was supposed to have met the killer. They'd had central park staked out for the last half an hour but there was no sign of anyone that might be there UNSUB. He was probably hidden somewhere nearby, watching for Lindsay or any sign she was being followed. She was safe at the precinct though, Messer had refused to allow her to come here. Don thought it was a mistake, they may be passing up their best opportunity to catch this guy and while he didn't like the idea of putting innocent people at risk, especially one of the victim's, he also knew that occasionally it was necessary.

He kept his eyes on the area the letter had told Lindsay to go to. It was busy, there were a lot of people around which was surprising, if the killer had intended to take Lindsay he would have chosen somewhere quieter, somewhere there were less witnesses. He could only think that he had chosen this spot to make her relax, to lead her into a false sense of security before forcing her to follow him.

There were a number of cops and detectives in the area, all of them in plain clothes, blending into the crowds. He, Jess and Messer had to stay out of sight, all of their faces had appeared in the news in connection with the case, if the killer saw any of them he would know they were on to him. He was currently among the trees, using them as cover. Jess and Messer were both elsewhere, keeping a low profile while they watched and waited.

Five more minutes passed, that was when he saw her, Lindsay.

She had obviously left the station and taken it upon herself to come down here. She was casting wary glances around herself, trying to spot both them and the killer and Don heard Danny's voice over the radio.

"She's here now detective," Don stated. "We've got her covered, you have snipers positioned around the place, let's just see what happens."

Messer wasn't happy about it, but he relented and stayed put. Lindsay walked around the area, stopping to sit on a bench after a few minutes. Don glanced at his watch again, it was fifteen minutes after the letter had told her to be here and he got the feeling they were too late. He stayed in position for another fifteen minutes before Messer's voice told them they were done here.

Messer appeared amongst the crowd heading toward Lindsay and Don stepped out from behind the trees, making his way over to the young woman as well.

"What were you thinking, I told you to stay at the station?" Danny questioned angrily and Lindsay crossed her arms over her chest defensively, standing her ground.

"I was thinking that I could help you to stop a killer and that it was worth the risk," Lindsay replied. "It doesn't look like it matters though, I was too late anyway."

"We can't even be sure that he was here to begin with, or that he really intended to meet with you," Don reassured her. The look on her face was the same as the one Jess got when she was blaming herself for something, shouldering the weight of something out of her control. "You were very brave to come down here."

Lindsay nodded; Messer still looked less than pleased.

* * *

It was getting late and there was nothing any of them could do for the moment so Don had decided it would be best to catch up on some sleep. Jess was going to meet him down by the car, he'd decided to grab a few case files, if he couldn't sleep, he could at least go through them. Detective Messer was still there, Don walked over to the man's desk, startling him out of whatever thoughts he was having.

"There's nothing to be done right now," Don told him. "You should go and get some sleep."

"I will, I just have a few things to take care of here," Messer replied.

"It can wait until morning," Don stated and was about to turn and leave when Messer stopped him.

"You think I made a mistake don't you?" the detective questioned and Don raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to elaborate. He knew exactly what Messer was referring to but he also knew the man needed to talk about it, to say it himself. "You think I should have let Lindsay meet with the killer."

Don chose his words carefully. "I think we missed an opportunity."

"She's been traumatised by this guy enough," Messer replied, leaning back in his chair.

"And she'll never be free of him until he's caught, until she knows he's behind bars where he can't hurt her or anyone else," Don explained and Danny stood up, defensive and angry.

"I wasn't about to put one of this guy's victims in a position where she'd have to face him again," Messer stated firmly and Don raised an eyebrow at him again.

"One of his victims, or just Lindsay?" he questioned and he watched the anger and confusion on Messer's face, watched as the man became more defensive now that Don was edging too close to a truth he wasn't willing to admit to yet. "It's clear you care about her, a lot more than a detective should care about a witness or victim in a case. I don't know exactly what your relationship to her is but it's clouding your judgement."

"My judgement is fine," Messer half shouted taking a step forward into Don's personal space.

"Is it?" he questioned. "You made an emotional decision today, one that could have adversely affected the case. You need to figure out what your priorities are and whether or not they leave you clear headed enough to work this case."

"I don't think you're in a position to lecture me about my personal decisions," Messer threw back at him. "You're not the only one that can analyse behaviour and you and Angell aren't exactly hard to figure out. What exactly is your relationship with your partner because whatever it is I'm pretty sure the Bureau would frown on it?"

"Whatever my relationship is with Agent Angell it doesn't affect our jobs, it doesn't come to work with us and it doesn't factor into our decisions," Don told him. "The job comes first."

"Well," Messer began with an almost cruel smile. "I suppose that's easy for someone who's lost the ability to feel, job take that away from you too."

Don didn't bother to reply, he just turned and left.

* * *

Don had already headed into the precinct; he'd been up early and text her to let her know he'd meet her there. Jess left the hotel, dodging the reporter that had been lurking around outside trying to get a quote from her and Don, he left with a dejected look on his face but she had a feeling he'd be back at some point.

Her car was further from the doors than she would have liked, almost at the other end of the parking lot but it had been late when they'd gotten back here last night and all the spaces nearer the hotel had already been taken. She unlocked the car as she approached, hitting the button on the key when she was still a few feet from it and glancing to her side as she heard a car engine start. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she reached the car, she opened the door to get in but she couldn't quite shake off the feeling.

She looked around her, trying to pinpoint the source of the feeling but the car park was empty except for her and whoever had started their car nearby. That was when she spotted him, the man standing by the entrance to the hotel, his gaze fixed on her and she mentally catalogued his appearance. White, tall, dark hair, he fit the basic description of their UNSUB but so did a large portion of the men in the city.

Whether he was their UNSUB or not, he was making her uncomfortable and if it turned out this was their guy and she let him get away she'd be kicking herself for a long time. She closed the car door and took a step toward him but the car she had heard earlier drove passed her, blocking both her way and her view of the man. When she could see the hotel entrance again he was gone and after a couple of minutes searching she gave up on trying to find him, he could be anywhere.

She headed to the precinct, Don was speaking with the sister of one of the earlier victims who had apparently come to the station to try to get some answers so she busied herself with case files in the briefing room. She couldn't get the man from the hotel out of her head though, nor could she shake the feeling that he had been the UNSUB. He could be another reporter, or another grieving family member who wanted answers, he could have been someone who knew something but had yet to work up the courage to come forward, it didn't matter how many scenarios she came up with, her mind kept coming back to UNSUB.

Don finally finished up with the victim's sister and joined her in the briefing room, she gave him a small smile as he sat down opposite her. He looked at her questioningly, obviously sensing something was up. They went through files, throwing out new theories and adding bits to the profile but Jess was distracted.

Detective Messer stuck his head through the door. "Bethany Gail's mother just called, she said she might have some information for us."

"I'll head over there," Jess told him and he nodded. "I could do with getting out of this room for an hour anyway."

"Are you going to tell me what's up?" he asked her and she looked at him a moment, debating whether or not it was good idea to tell him.

"I think someone might be following me," she said and wished her voice hadn't sounded so weak.

"What?" he questioned and she could actually feel the underlying anger in his tone.

"This morning there was a man at the hotel staring at me, I tried to talk to him but he disappeared before I could get to him, I wouldn't normally think anything of it but it's not the first time I've had the feeling I'm being watched," she explained wondering if it sounded as ridiculous as she thought it did, maybe she was just being paranoid.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked angrily.

Jess was slightly taken aback by his reaction. "Because I wasn't even sure, I'm still not."

"Jess, you're this guy's type, pretty brunette," Don stated, he was keeping his voice down so the detectives that were separated from them by only a door wouldn't overhear them but she could tell how angry he was anyway, she didn't need the added volume to know he was mad.

"I'm older than most of his other victims," she defended but Don cut her off.

"Lindsay is only three years younger than you, Annie Green was five years younger," Don replied. "That's not much of an age difference; you shouldn't have kept this to yourself."

"If I am being followed and if it is the UNSUB, then he's probably just trying to get information on the case, to see where we are," Jess said. She stopped to take a breath, they both needed to calm down again before they continued this conversation. "I'm going to speak to Mrs Gail."

* * *

"Where are we on the case?" Mac asked Danny as the detective sat down. Danny sighed, they were nowhere if he was honest, he didn't feel like they were getting any closer to catching this guy even with the FBI's help. The public were getting angry, the press were breathing down their necks and he was pretty sure Mac would be getting some heat from above.

"We're still getting information from the tip line though none of it has really been of much use so far but we're following up on potential leads from that. The crime lab is working on the letters the killer sent to Miss Monroe though other than a handwriting analysis I doubt they're going to get much from them. Agent's Flack and Angell are planning to update the profile, Agent Angell is out speaking to one of the victim's mothers and Agent Flack is doing something with a map. At the moment we're doing everything we can." Danny explained, hoping it sounded better than it actually was.

"I spoke to Stella this morning," Mac told him. "She's taking a few of her people back to some of the crime scenes; see if they missed anything the first time around."

Danny nodded as there was a knock on the door and a uniform walked in. "Detective Messer, there's a woman here to see you."

"Keep me informed," Mac said by way of dismissal and Danny left, walking over to his desk where an unfamiliar brunette was sitting. She had an envelope clutched tightly in her hands, she was biting her lip and shuffling uncomfortably in the seat, she was nervous.

"I'm Detective Messer, what can I do for you Miss..." he trailed off so she could fill in the blank, keeping his tone friendly in an effort to relax her a little, she looked ready to bolt.

"Kite, Lilly Kite," she told him as she stood up and shook the hand he offered her. He gestured for her to sit back down but she shook her head and bit her lip again, the woman seemed terrified and it put Danny on edge. "Are the FBI still here?" she questioned. "I'd like to speak to them as well."

Danny called for a uniform to get Flack from the briefing room, the agent appearing a moment later. "This is Agent Flack."

Lilly nodded. "I... I think the man you're looking for, the killer, I think it might be my ex-boyfriend."

Danny would normally be a little sceptical but the woman's demeanour, her obvious fear, told him she had a reason for her suspicions. "What makes you think that?"

"We broke up months ago; a few days ago I remembered that I'd left something at his place, a dress that my mother bought for me for my birthday just before she died. I always wear it on my birthday and the last time I'd worn it was to his place. I went to get it back but he wasn't home, I knew where he kept his spare key and since I really didn't want to see him anyway, I grabbed it and let myself in," the woman explained to them, her hands were shaking, the envelope she was carrying was clutched tightly to her chest as though it might protect her. "I went into the bedroom, the curtains were closed, there were papers everywhere. There were pictures and news paper articles about the case on the bed and... there were some pictures pinned to the wall. I nearly ran straight out of there but then I grabbed a few of the pictures first."

She handed over the envelope, her hands shaking even more and Danny took it, offering her a reassuring look as he opened it and pulled out the photographs. He felt his stomach turn and immediately glanced at Flack who had visibly paled.

"I recognised her from the news, I came straight here."

All the pictures were of Angell.

* * *

She wasn't answering her cell phone; it just kept ringing until voicemail picked it up. He'd left a dozen messages, both voicemail and texts, she wasn't replying to either. He shouldn't have let her go alone, after finding out she thought she was being followed he shouldn't have let her out of his sight. She hadn't been sure though and going to see a victim's mother hadn't seemed threatening, there and back in an hour, it should have been that simple.

He dialled her number again, hoping that she was just mad at him and refusing to answer even though he knew she wouldn't do that, at least not when they were working a case. She could just be busy with the mother and waiting until she was done to answer her phone, it wouldn't be the first time, especially if she was getting something useful. Voicemail picked up again and after leaving another message for her to call him he hung up.

He was about to dial her number again when he caught sight of Lindsay Monroe running into the room. She stopped by the door, her eyes scanning the room almost frantically, probably in search of Messer. He went over to her, sensing her urgency and noticing the paper in her hand.

"Agent Flack," she exclaimed when she saw him. "Where's Danny?"

"He's busy at the moment, is there something I can help you with?" he questioned and she looked unsure for a moment before handing him the paper.

"I got another letter but this one... it freaked me out a little," she told him and he could tell just how freaked out she was from the tone of her voice, the nervous way she kept shifting her weight from one foot to the other and the way she started picking at the hem of her jacket as soon as there was nothing in her hands.

He read the letter and he could understand why this one had freaked her out even more than the one where the killer had said he wanted to meet her. He was mad, really mad, that she hadn't met him at the park, that she'd defied him yet again. The writing itself was jagged; the pen pushed hard into the paper and if that wasn't a give away to the killer's mood then the words themselves definitely were.

_How dare you..._

_Who do you think you are..._

_You'll be sorry..._

They were just a few of the indicators, he felt his stomach turn, his worry for Jess increasing tenfold. If he was this angry and he had Jess, there was no telling what he might do to her, what he had done to the other victims was horrific, he dreaded to imagine what he would do to a person in his anger.

Detective Messer ran over to them. "I just spoke to the uniform that accompanied Agent Angell to Mrs Gail's home. Angell's gone."

It took all his years of training and experience in control to keep him from collapsing right there.

"He said he was knocked out while Angell was in the house, Mrs Gail just found him and woke him up. He found Angell's notebook by the side of the road but there's no sign of her anywhere," Messer explained.

"Agent Angell is missing?" Lindsay questioned and Messer looked at her as though only just noticing she was there.

"Lindsay what are you doing here?" he asked her and Don handed him the letter that was still in his hand. "He doesn't sound happy."

"This is why he did it, why he was bold enough to make a move now, this was his trigger," Don stated. His heart was thudding in his chest, his hands were shaking at his sides, it was all he could do just to keep standing.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors Note: I should have posted this chapter ages ago but I completely forgot, better late than never though. Special thanks to CSI4lyfNCIS13, Brinchen86, Runner043, writergirl99 and afrozenheart412 for their reviews on the previous chapter!**

Chapter 5

Everything had happened so fast, they'd gone from naught to ten in less than an hour and it had left Danny's head spinning. Thanks to the woman that had arrived with information about her ex they had a solid lead to go but the revelation that Agent Angell was a potential victim had all but destroyed any elation they may have felt. Then Lindsay had showed up with another letter from the killer and Flack had been unable to contact Angell, it was all but confirmed that the killer had her.

Damien James had turned out to be a 29 year old white male, he had priors for assault and peeping, two women had filed restraining orders on him. His ex-girlfriend had told them the reason for their break up was that he was into things she wasn't, that he had talked her into doing things during sex that caused her pain and she'd finally had enough. She'd said he was an awkward guy, hadn't been particularly sociable but he was smart and confident in himself. He fit the profile Flack and Angell had given pretty closely and Danny was forced to admit, they'd been eerily accurate.

Flack was currently on the phone with his colleagues at the bureau, a couple of uniforms had been to James's house and he hadn't been there. They were working on finding any other properties that he owned or had connections to, ones that fit with the profile and apparently Flack's people could do that better than Danny's. He hadn't been about to argue, as much as he hated to admit it, the bureau had more resources than the NYPD and he wasn't about to protest getting access to them.

There wasn't much he could do at this point but wait, so he was sitting at his desk with Lindsay. She was a little shook up, both from the letter and being dropped into the middle of this mess. Danny knew he should have put a car on her and sent her home but if he was honest he wanted her here where he could keep an eye on her himself and know she was safe.

"I should have met him in the park," Lindsay said her gaze fixed on his desk.

"That was my call Lindsay, not yours," Danny told her. "And we had no way to know what this guy wanted with you. Now he's kidnapped an armed and well trained FBI agent, I'm not entirely sure I made the wrong call in keeping you away from that park."

"He's taken her because I didn't show up, he's angry at me and he's going to take it out on her. If she dies because of me..." she began but Danny cut in before she could lay anymore blame on herself.

"It's not because of you Lindsay, you're a victim in all of this. I made the decision not to have you meet him, the fallout from that is down to me and the killer, no one else," Danny stated firmly but he knew it would take more than words for Lindsay to make her feel better now.

"You would have had me covered Danny, you could have had this guy in a cell by now instead of out there with Agent Angell doing..." she trailed off, unable to complete her own sentence and Danny leaned forward in his chair, his hand taking hers from her lap.

"We're going to get this guy; Agent Flack has his people tracking down where he might have taken Angell. We're going to find him and stop him, we're going to get Agent Angell back in one piece and we're going to put this guy behind bars," he told her, trying to make himself believe it as much as her. "And when this is all over we're both going to dress up nice and go out to dinner to celebrate putting this monster behind bars where he can't hurt anyone else."

Lindsay smiled slightly. "It sounds like you're asking me on a date Detective."

"Maybe I am," he replied with a smile of his own before he became serious again. "Lindsay, I promise you, one way or another, this is all going to be over soon and you can get back to living your life."

Lindsay nodded just as Agent Flack walked over to them, his cell phone still in his hand. "We've got a location."

* * *

James's father owned an old office building, the business that he had run there had gone bankrupt years ago but his father had never gotten around to selling the building, perhaps hoping it would be useful again. It had been vacant for three years now though and no one went in or out, it was the perfect place for James to take his victims, he could keep them there and do whatever he wanted without risk of being caught, without anyone finding the women while he was gone.

They were outside now, a tactical team ready to go in and Jame's car in the underground parking lot was confirmation he was there. Don and Detective Messer were leading the team in, the two of them stood to either side of the front entrance. The building had three floors and Don was fairly sure James would keep the women on the second, less risky than the first but not as far to carry the dead weight of a person, unconscious or dead.

A nod from Messer to confirm he was ready was all Don needed, kicking open the locked door he entered the building first, weapon drawn and aimed ahead of him. It didn't take long to see that the immediate vicinity of the door was cleared, blue prints had indicated there were two main staircases and an elevator but the elevator was no longer functioning which just left the stairs to be covered. The team that were coming through the back would take care of one stairwell, Don, Messer and the few officers that had come in the front were handling the stairs nearest to them, nearest the entrance from the parking lot.

They made their way through the corridor silently, entering the stairwell in the same manner and keeping quiet as they headed up to the second floor, a third team would be entering the building now to clear and secure the ground floor. The second floor was much the same as the first but it didn't take long for the shout of 'bitch' to echo down the empty corridor. Jess was clearly not being a compliant victim and under different circumstances Don might have allowed himself a smile at that.

Messer signalled to him the direction the shout had come from, not that Don needed it. They headed in that direction, moments later the muffled sound of a voice could be heard and they followed the sound to a closed door. Stepping to the either side of it Don and Messer looked at each other, both nodding when they were ready to enter and Messer opened the door, the two of them moving through it quickly followed by the officers that had been behind them.

Jess was cuffed to a bed, one that had obviously not been part of the furnishings before the building had been vacated. James was leaning over her, one knee on the bed beside her, a knife in his hand, the blood on it doing little to help Don's control. He seemed to panic when he saw them, whether it was fear of being arrested or not being able to finish his work yet again Don wasn't sure. He turned back to Jess quickly, raising the knife but however quickly he moved he wasn't faster than a bullet. It was Messer who fired, hitting the man in the shoulder. He dropped the knife, his arm moving to clutch the bleeding wound and Messer moved over there quickly, grabbing him and pulling him from the bed.

Once he was sure James no longer posed a threat Don went to Jess's side. She had a bleeding cut on her head, bruising along her jaw and down her neck. Her shirt was pulled up, a shallow cut along her stomach marking the beginning of the torture she would have been subjected to. He couldn't allow himself any further examination of her injuries; she looked terrified, her eyes pleading with him to get her out of there. He turned to Messer who had obviously sensed his thoughts; the keys to the cuffs were already being thrown in his direction. He grabbed them and turned back to Jess, she was struggling against them and he put a hand on her arm to try and calm her.

"Get them off me," she pleaded breathlessly. He did so and he barely had her hands loose before she was scrambling to get off the bed, trying to put some distance between it and her. She backed herself away and into the nearby wall as Messer led James from the room in cuffs, the man shouting in a mixture of pain and anger.

"Jess, it's alright," he said reaching out to her slowly. She was breathing hard and she stepped closer to him, allowing him to pull her into his arms and hold her tightly. "I've got you," he whispered into her hair. "I've got you."

"Just get me out of here Don," she pleaded. He kept an arm around her as he led her out of the room and through the building. He allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief once they were outside, she was safe and other than some cuts and bruises she seemed relatively unhurt, it could have been a lot worse. He had her back now and James was sitting in the back of a police car, cuffed and about to be on his way to the precinct.

* * *

Jess has been in with the doctors for a while now, they wanted to check her out completely, especially given that she'd been unconscious for a while. It had left Don standing in the hallway near the waiting room, pacing and worrying. He'd spoken to Detective Messer briefly, James had arrived at the precinct without incident, he was refusing to admit to any part in the murders or even in Jess's kidnapping but Danny had yet to confront him with the evidence. Don was sure he would cave as soon as he was shown the files and pictures they'd collected from his home. The CSI's were still going through the place but they'd already found photographs of the women's final days and jewellery and hair from some of the victims.

"Don," Jess voice came from behind him and he turned to see her standing there, looking more fragile and vulnerable than he could ever remember her looking.

"Hey, everything okay?" he questioned, almost afraid of the answer.

"Yeah, everything's fine," she replied. "Just a few cuts and bruises, a couple of stitches," she assured him, her hand automatically going to the now covered cut on her head. "Nothing that won't heal."

He nodded, an almost awkward silence falling between them, emotions closer to the surface than they would usually be. If this whole thing had taught him anything it was the Jess was more important to him than he had realised, that he had been taking her for granted, that something had to change. Messer had been right, he did come across as unfeeling, but that wasn't what he wanted with Jess, not anymore.

"You had me worried," he told her, it was as close as he could get to an admission, at least for now.

"I know," she replied, her eyes locked with his, conveying her understanding of something he wasn't ready to say out loud yet.

"I need to get back but I can drop you off at the hotel on the way," he told her after another moment of silence but she shook her head.

"No, I want to see this through," she stated and he knew it would be pointless to argue with her, she was stubborn when she had set her mind to something. He nodded, looking over her, feeling the urge to wrap her up in his arms where she was safe and keep her there, protected. Instead he stepped forward and kissed her, running his fingers through her hair and allowing himself just that one moment to be unguarded, to just be the man that cared about her maybe more than he had ever cared about anything, the man that had almost lost her just a couple of hours ago.

Jess wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face there; he heard her wince at the action but stopped himself from making comment on it. He just held her for a moment, knowing it was what she needed and admitting to himself it was what he needed as well.

She finally stepped back from him, taking a deep breath and straightening herself up. "Let's go finish this case."

* * *

Damien James had finally confessed, in horrifying detail, to all of the murders and to Jess's kidnapping. Once he'd admitted to it he'd taken great pleasure in reliving every detail of the torture he'd subjected the women to, of every depraved act he'd performed before he finally killed them and dumped their bodies. Don and Messer had done all the interrogating themselves while Jess watched from behind the one way mirror, they'd decided it would be best if she weren't in the room though James had guessed she was there and had constantly thrown comments her way, comments designed to unsettle her, she refused him that victory.

He was sitting in a cell now, bail would be denied and eventually he would go to trial for his crimes, Jess guessed he would plead guilty and if they were lucky he'd be sentenced to death, at the very least he would never see the outside of a prison again. She was just glad to have the case over with, she wanted nothing more than to go home and curl up in her bed, preferably with Don but she'd learned not to presume he would be there. He seemed to be making an effort over the last couple of days though, he'd been hovering more than usual but she did wonder if it would last.

He always hovered after a close call, a few months ago she was held at gun point and he'd hovered then too. It had only lasted the remainder of the day though and then they'd fallen back into their usual pattern, some nights together and very rarely, a moment during the day. He was still hovering now though; they'd stuck to their separate rooms rule though she could tell he had wanted to break it. He knocked on her door in the morning, had breakfast with her, drove to the station with her, stuck close by and went back to the hotel with her.

They were going home now, for some reason Detective Messer had offered to drive them to the airport and surprisingly, Lindsay had been in the car with him when he'd arrived to pick them up. The drive was almost awkward, Messer and Lindsay talking in the front while she and Don stuck to their quiet solitude in the back, his hand resting on the seat in the middle, touching the back of hers.

"Here we are," Messer finally announced as he stopped the car outside the airport. They got out, grabbing their two bags from the trunk. "I wanted to thank you both, I know I wasn't the easiest person to work with at times but we stopped him and I don't think we could have done that without you."

"We were just doing our job," Don replied, he'd always been a little uncomfortable with the occasional gratitude they got.

"Still, thank you," Messer said holding his hand out to them. Don shook it, politeness and manners were never something he lacked and Jess did the same, shaking Lindsay's hand as well. Goodbyes were quickly exchanged, before they parted ways, Messer opening the car door for Lindsay, his hand on her back as she got in.

"Let's go home," Jess said with a look at Don. "I think I'm ready to curl up in my own bed now, put a movie on and order some really unhealthy food."

"Is it my turn to pick the movie or the food?" Don questioned and Jess looked at him for a moment before smiling slightly.

"I already picked the movie, you can pick the food," she told him as they headed into the airport, maybe this change in him would stick this time around, a least a little bit.

**Authors Note: So there it is, the last chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone who has read this story, for sticking with it even with my terrible updating. Extra special thanks and hugs to everyone who left me a review, you guys are all awesome, you keep me inspired. **


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